diff --git a/fs/btrfs/qgroup.c b/fs/btrfs/qgroup.c
index c1cd5558a646..eb680b715dd6 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/qgroup.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/qgroup.c
@@ -894,6 +894,12 @@ int btrfs_quota_enable(struct btrfs_fs_info *fs_info)
 	if (fs_info->quota_root)
 		goto out;
 
+	fs_info->qgroup_ulist = ulist_alloc(GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (!fs_info->qgroup_ulist) {
+		ret = -ENOMEM;
+		goto out;
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * 1 for quota root item
 	 * 1 for BTRFS_QGROUP_STATUS item
@@ -909,13 +915,6 @@ int btrfs_quota_enable(struct btrfs_fs_info *fs_info)
 		goto out;
 	}
 
-	fs_info->qgroup_ulist = ulist_alloc(GFP_KERNEL);
-	if (!fs_info->qgroup_ulist) {
-		ret = -ENOMEM;
-		btrfs_abort_transaction(trans, ret);
-		goto out;
-	}
-
 	/*
 	 * initially create the quota tree
 	 */